Lewis Hamilton wins the Japanese Grand Prix, Vettel's title hope is gone

Lewis Hamilton scored his 8th win of the season and 61st Formula 1 victory in a career today in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit. After starting from pole for the 71st time, Hamilton’s #44 Mercedes was untouchable and he dominantly won the race ahead of two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

Hamilton’s main championship rival Sebastian Vettel, who started from the front row, had one more race from a nightmare, parking his #5 Ferrari in a garage after just five laps. It seems that his title hopes blows up together with Ferrari engine as he is now 59 points behind Hamilton in the standings, with four more races on a calendar.

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) finished fourth in Japan, closing a gap behind Vettel to just 13 points, so it’s more likely that we will have a battle for the P2 in the championship instead of the title fight.